More than 250,000 Deaths Every Year Due to Medical Malpractice

The study, authored by Martin A. Makary and Michael Daniel of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and published in The BMJ, estimated that more than 250,000 patient deaths in 2013 were caused by medical error. Only heart disease (611,000) and cancer (585,000) caused more deaths in that same period. The study further noted that medical error claimed almost twice as many victims as lung disease, and nearly eight times as many lives as either car accidents or firearms.

Medical error is not reported as a separate cause of death in official lists prepared by government agencies like the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. That is because, the authors explained, these lists are based on death certificates prepared by medical providers or coroners. And “human and system factors,” such as medical malpractice, are generally not reported as official causes of death.

For example, the study cited the case of a “young woman” who had a “successful transplant operation.” After returning to the hospital with “non-specific complaints,” doctors performed a battery of tests, “some of which were unnecessary” according to the authors. During one of these unnecessary tests, a surgeon accidentally punctured the patient’s liver with a needle. The liver subsequently ruptured and the patient died. Despite the fact the woman clearly died due to medical error, her death certificate “listed the cause of death as cardiovascular.”

Altogether, the authors relied on statistical analysis to calculate a “mean rate of death from medical error of 251,454” for patients admitted to U.S. hospitals in 2013. The authors acknowledged that “the assumptions made in extrapolating study data…may limit the accuracy of our figure,” but this only “highlights the need for systematic measurement of the problem.”

Speak With a Florida Medical Malpractice Lawyer Today

“Human error is inevitable,” according to the authors of the Johns Hopkins study. But even if not all medical error is preventable, that does not mean victims and their families should be denied justice in seeking to hold physicians and hospitals accountable for their negligence. There are many potential sources of medical error—an unreasonable delay in providing treatment, misdiagnosis, surgical mistakes, etc.—and in too many cases, providers are reluctant to take responsibility.

That is why if you or a loved one has been injured due to physician negligence, you should speak with a qualified Clearwater medical malpractice lawyer as soon as possible. A medical malpractice attorney can help you in dealing with medical providers—and their insurance companies—to help ensure you receive proper compensation. Contact the Law Office of Paul B. Genet at 727-510-8802 if you need to speak with an attorney right away.

How One Percent of Doctors Account for One-Third of Malpractice Payouts

The study was prepared by researchers affiliated with Stanford University and the University of Melbourne in Australia. The researchers analyzed over 66,000 medical malpractice claims reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank between 2005 and 2014. This data reflects malpractice claims where the patient received compensation, not merely those who filed lawsuits.

Based on this data, the researchers said “just 1 percent of practicing physicians accounted for 32 percent of paid malpractice claims.” Dr. Michelle Mello, one of the study’s authors and a law professor at Stanford, said this concentration “is larger than has been found in the few previous studies that have looked at this distributional question.” She said the data suggested some physicians are especially prone to malpractice claims, and that this “may be a bigger problem today” than it was when earlier studies were conducted more than two decades ago.

The key reason for the 1 percent concentration, according to the study, is a high rate of recidivism among physicians who pay malpractice claims. For instance, a doctor “who had two paid claims had almost twice the risk of another one” versus a physician with only one prior paid medical malpractice claim. And doctors with six or more paid claims—yes, they do exist—were “12 times” more likely to have another paid claim.

The study also looked at the demographics of doctors with paid malpractice claims. Among other things, male doctors had “a 40 percent higher risk of recurrence than female physicians.” Doctors under the age of 35 also had a lower risk of recurrence versus older physicians.

Dr. David Studdert, another study co-author, said this demographic information may be able to “predict accurately which physicians are going to become frequent flyers,” which in turn may prompt hospitals (and their liability insurers) to “kick out the high-risk clinicians, essentially making them someone else’s problem.” Dr. Studdert cautioned, however, that this was not necessarily be the most constructive approach either for improving patient safety or reducing litigation risks.

Get Help from a Medical Malpractice Attorney

Medical errors are not simply a subject for academic study. They impact the daily lives of victims and their families. That is why if you or a loved one has suffered due to a medical provider’s negligence, it is important you take action and seek assistance from someone who understands the industry. An experienced Clearwater medical malpractice attorney can assess your case and help you seek compensation from the responsible parties. Contact the Law Office of Paul B. Genet, P.A., we are available for consultation 24/7 as we understand that you may need assistance during non-business hours. Our phone number is 727-510-8802.

What Is the Statute of Limitations for Medical Malpractice?

Florida’s statute of limitations does require some explanation. Different types of cases have different time limits. To be sure, the statute of limitations governing actions based on negligence, such as car accidents, is four years. This means that in order to recover compensation for any damages you sustained in an accident, you would have to file a lawsuit within four years from the date of the wreck; doing so even a day late could bar you from presenting your case. Some cases have shorter time limits.

For medical malpractice, the general statute of limitations in Florida is two years. Now there is an important qualifier here. Normally a statute of limitations begins (or “tolls”) from the date of the incident giving rise to the victim’s injury. So if you are injured due to negligence while undergoing a surgical procedure, then the normal statute of limitations requires you file a medical malpractice lawsuit within two years of the date of when you knew or should have known with the act of due diligence that there was medical negligence.

Belated Discovery of Malpractice

The problem is, many cases of medical malpractice are not fully discovered until long after the original surgery or treatment. For this reason, the Florida statute of limitations may be extended to two years “from the time the incident is discovered or should have been discovered with the exercise of due diligence.” In other words, if you have surgery in March 2015, but you do not learn about the physician’s malpractice until October 2015, the statute of limitations in your case would run until October 2017, provided there is no way you could have reasonably learned of the physician’s malpractice at an earlier date. And in any event, a lawsuit must be filed within four years of the original incident.

Fraud or Concealment

However, the statute of limitations may be extended even further if there is evidence that “fraud, concealment, or intentional misrepresentation of fact prevented the discovery of the injury.” For instance, if a health care provider gave you false records in an attempt to hide evidence of malpractice, you may be able file a lawsuit even more than four years after the original incident. But the statute of limitations, even with such fraud or concealment, still exists, although it may be extended up to seven years.

Injuries to Children

There is one final caveat on the statute of limitations. A claim brought on behalf of an injured child is not subject to any of the time limits discussed above, provided the lawsuit is initiated “on or before the child’s eighth birthday.” So, for example, if a child is injured due to malpractice when she is one year old, a malpractice claim could still be brought when she is seven years old, even if there was no fraud or concealment on the part of the defendant.

Get Help from a Florida Medical Malpractice Lawyer

The statute of limitations is only one procedural hurdle victims need to clear when pursuing a malpractice claim. That is why you should never go into court without the assistance of an experienced Clearwater personal injury attorney. Contact the Law Office of Paul B. Genet, P.A., if you would like to speak with someone about your case right away.

Child With Permanent Brain Damage Entitled to Full Damage Award

The victim in this case was a child. In 2006, the child’s mother brought him to a hospital in Boynton Beach, Florida. The child exhibited a high fever as well as vomiting and a “stiff neck.” The child remained in the Boynton Beach hospital for two weeks, but when his condition worsened, he was transferred to a children’s hospital in Miami.

At the Miami hospital, the doctors determined the child suffered a stroke while under treatment at the Boynton Beach hospital. The doctors later determined the child had two versions of the herpes virus. The first hospital’s failure to identify and treat these viruses was the likely cause of the stroke. As a result of the stroke, the child suffered permanent brain damage and will require constant supervision for the remainder of his life.

The mother sued the Boynton Beach hospital and two of the doctors there who treated her son. The jury ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and awarded total damages of approximately $28 million. This included $6 million apiece to the mother and child for “past and future noneconomic damages.” The trial judge, however, reduced this award to $500,000 each, citing Florida’s statutory cap on noneconomic damages.

One of the doctors found liable for malpractice appealed the entire damage award, for which she was found 75 percent liable by the jury. The mother also appealed the judge’s decision to reduce the award of noneconomic damages. The Fourth District Court of Appeal rejected the doctor’s appeal but granted the mother’s appeal.

Among other things, the doctor argued the jury’s award for future medical costs—more than $16 million—should have been reduced to account for “free or low-cost medical care” the child would receive from government benefit programs like Medicaid. The trial judge refused to consider this “evidence” in upholding the jury’s award. The Fourth District agreed with the trial judge on this point.

As for the mother’s appeal, the Fourth District cited its prior decision striking down the Florida legislature’s cap on noneconomic damages as unconstitutional. The appeals court reiterated its view that such caps violate the principle of “equal protection” under the law as required by the federal and state constitutions. The court therefore restored the jury’s original damages award in its entirety.

Get Help from a Florida Medical Malpractice Lawyer

While the future of caps on noneconomic damages remains uncertain, these recent decisions show how many Florida judges are deeply skeptical of legislative attempts to interfere with the rights of victims to seek full compensation from negligent medical providers. If you or a family member has suffered due to such negligence, you should speak with an experienced Clearwater medical malpractice lawyer right away. Contact the Law Office of Paul B. Genet, P.A., if you need help.